You've got to burn to shine.

My weekend was quite relaxing - which was necessary given how the past few weekends have been full of visitors or visiting or chores. Not to say I didn't have chores to do this time around. But it was a peaceful weekend.

On Friday, Erica and I hit up Life Cafe after work for some serious girl gabbing. Also, we talked a lot about religion. And boys. Will we ever cease to talk about the labrynth that is male behavior and decision-making? It's too fascinating (and tortuous) to not talk about.

Afterwards, we went to Jesse Lee's latest gallery party at Eastern District. The gallery's latest offering is photographs by the talented Justine Reyes. I really loved the photographs, and if you're in the area, check them out.

The exhibit is called, "Home, Away from Home." From the website -

Ms. Reyes spent the past six years photographing her immediate family - her mother and two uncles. This series pairs their portraits with views of empty interior spaces in the house where they all live. In many of the photographs where the figures of her family are physically present a lonely emptiness and unease hovers, often more insistantly than in the vacant spaces. The family is seen engaging in the everyday activities of cleaning, eating, watching TV, doing nothing in particular. The viewer is forced to adopt Reyes’ vision, incorporating the artist’s own fears of losing her family and trying to capture the moments slipping by with increasing speed as they get older. Ms. Reyes’ beautifully sad photographs focus on age, aging, loneliness and isolation, and the fragility of life and family bonds through her stark depictions of details such as her uncle’s broken nose.

It's really beautiful. I met Justine and took her picture by her work, along with a couple of my favourite photographs on display:

On Saturday, Erica, Gaby and I saw Star Trek (for me, again) and it was great...again. The movie is just really fun. That night I came down with the worst headache and stayed on the couch to watch Sliding Doors, Grey Gardens and SNL. On Sunday, I got a lot of those chores done.

And how was your weekend?